Stars turn out to salute songwriter Carole King

Published 11:52 pm, Saturday, January 25, 2014

Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 24: Singer James Taylor performs onstage at The 2014 MusiCares Person Of The Year Gala Honoring Carole King at Los Angeles Convention Center on January 24, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. less

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 24: Singer James Taylor performs onstage at The 2014 MusiCares Person Of The Year Gala Honoring Carole King at Los Angeles Convention Center on January 24, 2014 in Los Angeles, ... more

Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

Stars turn out to salute songwriter Carole King

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Carole King's gift as a songwriter is all about connection -- friends, lovers, strangers experiencing deep emotions not often exposed to each other.

Over the decades, King has made that connection with untold millions of fans. Some of those fans came out to honor the songwriter as MusiCares person of the year Friday night as part of the build up to Sunday's Grammy Awards. Among them, lifelong friend James Taylor, Gloria Estefan, Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga, who thanked King for getting her through some difficult years before she found fame as a songwriter herself.

Gaga told the crowd she used to lock herself in her father's man room as a high school student and listen to "You've Got a Friend" over and over.

"And I would crank up this song so loud," Gaga said as she sat at a white baby grand piano in the center of the room wearing steampunk sunglasses and a flowing white dress. "And I really believed so much, Carole, that you were my friend. So thank you so much for the way you sing right to us in your music."

Toward the end of the song, Gaga modified the lyrics: "You've got a friend, yes you do, Carole, I love you."

Lady Gaga earned the first of a handful of standing ovations at the annual event, a fundraiser benefiting The Recording Academy's musician-oriented charity.

maker kicked in an extra $30,000 to the charity.

Estefan, a former MusiCares person of the year, sang "It's Too Late," and told the crowd "Tapestry" was "the No.1 most impactful" album she'd ever heard. Keys nailed "Natural Woman," a song most identified with Aretha Franklin, also modifying the lyrics at the end to pay tribute to King. And Train's Pat Monahan left the stage to serenade the 71-year-old singer-songwriter directly on "I Feel the Earth Move."